The History of~World War 2 (EXTRA: Weapons of WW2)
World War 2 has seen all kinds of weapons of nearly every shape and size. Every faction that participated in World War 2 had their own set of weapons they used at their disposal. In some cases the soldiers of World War 2 used some of the same weapons their fathers and/or grandfathers used during World War 1. This page will only cover the kind of weapons that were used by infantry and even some strange weapons as well. Handguns Typically this is a close range secondary weapon for most soldiers as they had something better to use primarily. But when the fight got up close and personal, they had to use something more short range. M1911A1 The handgun of the US Army. This is a very powerful weapon that used the huge .45 ACP bullet which can deliver enough force to bring a person down to the ground, though the weapon was hampered by somewhat of a moderate recoil. Webley One of the more known handguns used by the British Army. This is primarily a revolver which had a pretty good firepower behind it, but because it's a revolver the reload times are long and it only carried 6 rounds. It also uses the .45 ACP bullet. Tokarev T-33 The handgun of the Soviet Red Army. Mostly used by the Soviet Commanding Officers, it had a fair amount of firepower however it wasn't widely used as most low ranking Soviet soldiers during the war had the Nagant M1895. Luger P-09 The handgun of the Nazi Army. Despite it having a good amount of firepower, it was a clumsy and inaccurate weapon due to it's heavy recoil, it also couldn't handle corruption (e.g., dirt, mud, water) and had a special holster to keep out anything that may jam the gun. Despite it's obvious weaknesses, it is considered to many Allied troops as a treasure as Nazi soldiers that surrendered to the Allies would present them their prized Lugers. Nambu The handgun used by the Japanese Army. Designed similar to the Nazi Luger and had some of it's weaknesses, as in jamming when it's wet and/or dirty. Rifles The majority of rifles that were used in World War 2 began their military careers in World War 1, though some of the rifles used were smaller, easier to handle variations. M1 Garand The rifle of the US Army. Unlike other rifles used in the war, the M1 Garand didn't have a bolt which the user would have to pull back after every shot, the M1 Garand was semi-automatic which held an 8-bullet clip and the bullets it fired (the .30-'06) had a good amount of firepower to it as well. Lee Enfield SMLE The rifle of the British Army, this has the largest clip (holding up to 10 bullets) and if used in the hand of an expert, it can shoot very, very fast. In World War 1, the British have done something called the Mad Minute where a group of British Soldiers can fire 60 bullets in just one minute, with this whole German batallions were wiped out. This rifle also held it's own in World War 2 as well and was very soon issued to militias of Britain's colonies worldwide. Mosin-Nagant The rifle of the Soviet Red Army. This rifle was also used during World War 1 as well as Russia's revolution and Civil War. Anm average rifle with the same clip feed as all the other Bolt-Action rifles. Mauser (98K Carbine) This is a variation of the German rifle used in World War 1, this variation is smaller making it easier to hold and handle. Arisaka The rifle of the Japanese Army. They used the Type 99 variation which is like all the other bolt-action rifles. However, when a Bayonet was attached to this, it became the weapon of choice for Japanese soldiers when he resorted to more suicidal methods (the Banzai Charge). Some of these rifles were also used as specialist sniper rifles as they can be fit with a scope. The Mosin-Nagant is a prime example, because World War 2's most decorated sniper Vasily Zytzev used a specail Mosin-Nagant which allowed him to see far away targets (even enemy snipers). The Soviet Military even recruited women into their ranks to use special Mosin-Nagants and they too became aces. Submachine Guns Apart from handguns and rifles, the soldiers also used submachine guns which can can be fired on full-automatic. However, it uses the same ammunition that handguns did. Thompson M1A1 The submachine gun of the US Army. AKA the "Tommy Gun", it began it's life as a criminal as this was the weapon of choice for Gangsters during the 1930's. Like the M1911A1, it uses the .45 ACP round. It can also use either a stick magazine (which holds 40 bullets) or a drum magazine (which holds 100 bullets). This submachine Gun is considered by many historians and gun experts as one of the best submachine guns ever devised. STEN The submachine gun of the British Army. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy to make weapon. It uses the same 9MM bullet as regular submachine guns for the time, but it's weakness that it had a heavy recoil and it also heated up quickly and could jam as well. PPsh-41 The submachine gun of the Soviet Red Army. This gun has one of the highest rate of fire of any submachine gun in World War 2, which also made it very difficult to handle. It also had a very big magazine (which can hold up to 70 bullets) MP (MaschinenPistole) 40 The submachine gun of the Nazi Army. It uses the standard 9MM bullet and does a fair amount of damage. Type 100 The submachine gun of the Japanese Army. It uses the same ammunition as the Nambu handgun and was the widely used submachine gun in the Japanese military. Machine guns Not as portable as submachine guns, but by World War 2, they were more portable and required less men to operate. They often had a very heavy recoil and needed a bipod in order to shoot accurately. Browning Automatic Rifle The Machine gun of the US Army. This machine gun was pretty standard, though it did use the .30-'06 bullet (the same as what the M1 Garand used), however it didn't carry a lot of bullets with it as it only had a 20 bullet magazine. BREN The machine gun of the British Army. It used the same ammunition as did the Lee Enfield (the .303 Enfield) this gun can also use a lot of ammunition either the 30-bullet carrying stick overhead magazine or the 100-bullet carrying drum magazine. Maschinengewher (MG) series The machine guns of the Nazi Army. Unlike the other machine guns of World War 2, it was belt fed, as in bullets on a belt-like object. Germany's machine guns had an incredible rate of fire as in can shoot up to around 1500 (that's right, 1500) bullets in just one minute. The Nazis used the MG 34 early on in the war, the gun was later updated in the more infamous 42 edition which had a tremendous fear factor (and coined the nickname "Hitler's Buzzsaw") and had a very high kill rate. Type 11 The machine gun of the Japanese Army. Eventhough this gun was eventually phased out before World War 2, it was used in the war nevertheless. It had a substantial rate of fire and can use a pretty big magazine (holding 30 bullets). Anti-Tank Weapons Ever since the Tank came onto the battlefield during World War 1, the infantry wanted better weapons to deal with these mechanical weapons. At first, it was huge rifles that were heavy, had a huge recoil, were difficult to shoot and only did minor damage to tanks. This is because the bullet can only to so much damage to mechanical units and the tanks were also improving. Something better was needed, so before and during the war the factions developed their own anti-tank weapons. Bazooka The anti-tank weapon of the US Army. It used a small rocket which can do a good amount of damage to most tanks fielded by the Axis. It took 2 men to operate as one would use the parent weapon and the second would load the rocket. It had a double-flash which could not just give away the position of the shooter, but also injure nearby people. PIAT The anti-tank weapon of the British Army. The "Personal Infantry Anti-Tank" was a primitive weapon as it was operated by a spring which had to be manually loaded the first time, it also had a huge recoil and the rocket couldn't travel far due to the spring's technological limit. Panzerschreck One of the many Nazi anti-tank weapons. This is their own version of the US Bazooka but bigger. This weapon (like the Bazooka) needed 2 people to operate, and this thing can destroy most tanks fielded by the Allies and the Soviets. Panzerfaust As the Nazis were having difficulties with the numerous Tanks that the Allies and the Soviets had, and they didn't have enough tanks of their own to counter them. What they did is look at the anti-tank technology and then began to build a smaller, easy to use weapon system. They came up with the Panzerfaust which was not only very easy to use, but can be built in mass (as in a lot being built). Despite it being small and easy to use, it is also very effective against tanks. This weapon was also used by Nazi civilians as the Soviets were invading Berlin. Special weapons There are also some special weapons that were used during World War 2, some that were not used very much, but were effective nevertheless. Katana Arguably the best sword ever created, this was the weapon of choice for the Samurai back during Japan's Sengoku period. The Katana was back in service during Japan's territorial aggression, though it was mostly a part of the Japanese soldier's uniform, it *was* used in some occasions, not just in combat but also when a Japanese soldier had to commit suicide. Flamethrower The modern operating flamethrower was made in Germany during World War 1 and it was mostly used a s an anti-trench weapon as it not only burned soldiers inside the trench but also reduced the air they breathed. When the USA created their own flamethrower in time for World War 2, they used some of the same purposes as did the Germans, but not as an anti-trench weapon, but to turn the Japanese's position advantage into a disadvantage, meaning not only did it burned any hapless Japanese soldier inside their dug in bunkers (which was found in most of the islands they occupied) but also reduced the air they breathed as well. How the flamethrower worked is that it had a 70 pound tank the size of a back pack which had gasoline (for fuel ignition) and some kind of compressed air (like nitrogen) to propel the fuel out of the tank. The gun part of the flamethrower had to trigger, the back was to let the fuel out of the hose, and the front had a pin which grinded against a rotating disk which created sparks which in turn ignited the fuel and thus a stream of fire was then let out. There were problems using flamethrowers, one obvious problem was that (despite what Hollywood depicts sometimes) there was only enough fuel for a continuous flame for around 7 to 10 seconds, the tank was very heavy and dangerous as one shot from an enemy gun will make the tank explode, dousing the user with burning fuel and die (bummer). Despite this, it was quite a formidable weapon for the job it was designed for. Bamboo Spears In a last desperate attempt to defend their holdings, the Japanese soldiers went for some more suicidal tactics, some Japanese soldiers used Bamboo Spears for their Banzai Charges as they attacked the enemy. By the summer of 1945 with the Japanese under the notion that the USA would invade Japan, Japanese officers began to train Japanese civilians (men, women and children) to use bamboo spears to attack the US Army. But in the end, the invasion never came. Spade Shovels First used by the German Army to build their tenches in World War 1, the Spade Shovel was still a part of the Nazi Soldier's kit by the time World War 2 began. Again it was designed to be a tool, but some Nazi soldiers quickly gaught on that it can also be a formidable weapon when in close combat, the thick shovel head can do a lot of damage to the enemy when used properly and efficiently, some Nazi soldiers sharopened the edges to cause even more damage. That si ti for this extra page about World War 2, check out the other extra pages as well as my Games and Movies wikis. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.